If you want democracy in energy, gender matters

While democratic initiatives led by citizens, energy communities play an important role in efforts to accelerate Europe's transition to renewable energy. However, behind their progressive image, family inequalities persist: women and FLINTA (feminine, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender people) remain largely absent from membership and decision-making. If these grassroots popular projects aim to reshape not only how energy is produced but also who holds power, gender issues cannot be treated as secondary.

Energy communities are often considered one of the most promising developments related to the energy transition — and for good reasons. REScoop.eu, the European federation of energy communities, describes them as a «form of organizing citizens who intend to cooperate together in an activity related to the energy sector, based on open and democratic participation and governance, so that the activity can provide services or other benefits to members or the local community». This encompasses a wide range of organizations and initiatives, with very different sizes and ways of producing energy, from solar and hydro to wind or biomass. Common to them is decentralized and self-managed energy production, a focus on renewables, and — unfortunately — a persistent underrepresentation of women. Studies show that more than 70 percent of members of electricity energy communities and over 83 percent of their boards are male.

It may seem petty to discuss gender dynamics in the context of the overall energy transition, and even more so in the microcosm of energy communities, which are still establishing themselves in most EU Member States. However, gender remains a useful lens to describe the experience of more than half of the population and to analyze political phenomena, including energy policy.

In energy communities, there is a persistent underrepresentation of women. Studies show that more than 70% of members and over 83% of boards are male.

Furthermore, energy communities are interesting laboratories because they address the energy transition from the grassroots, close to people's daily lives. The structures and dynamics present in these contexts can both reflect and shape the direction of change.

A political transition
Our current energy systems have a more negative impact on women than on men. This begins with fossil fuel extraction, which puts indigenous women and two-spirit people at increased risk of violence (including sexual violence). These groups also suffer more from the immediate effects of fossil fuel consumption, such as pollution from cooking. The long-term effects of climate change also show a gender bias: women face greater health risks, are at higher risk during climate disasters, and so on.

The energy sector employs fewer women and pays them less, further exacerbating their energy poverty. Similarly, energy governance has historically been dominated by men, both nationally and at the European level. Essentially, current energy systems do not work for women in many aspects, and energy communities have not yet broken free from this dynamic. Therefore, gender must be considered for energy justice, alongside intersectional experiences of inequality and oppression, which also include class, sexuality, ethnicity, and age. However, as researcher Barbara Nicoloso has shown, the political dimension of the energy transition has not received adequate attention.

Current energy systems do not work for women in many aspects, and energy communities have not yet freed themselves from this dynamic.

Energy policy is sensitive to politics in general and to entrenched political interests. The reaction against the European Green Deal aims to slow down the energy transition — even when studies repeatedly refute the idea that voters oppose climate measures. At the same time, geopolitical risks associated with dependence on fossil fuels have become very visible since the invasion of Ukraine, with high energy prices worsening energy poverty in Europe. In the years following the invasion, the EU managed to diversify its energy supply (albeit sometimes with painful trade-offs), but renewables are being vilified by the far right. In Germany, for example, Alternative for Germany (AfD) has frequently criticized wind energy and advocated for resuming cheap fossil fuel imports from Russia.

Energy policy reflects the structures and priorities of the societies in which it is created. This means that the underrepresentation of women among a niche of active prosumers is not a coincidence but a product of politics. It is a warning sign that, even if renewable advocates treat the energy transition as a way to exit an old system and enter a new one, it will carry along counterproductive and unjust blind spots.

Leveling the playing field

Energy communities represent a microcosm of the broader issues that progressives and Greens grapple with across Europe. Can the energy transition be truly participatory? How can it be accelerated and expanded? Social and political dynamics are, at least, as important as technical considerations.

The underrepresentation of women in a niche of energy communities is not a coincidence. It is a product of politics.

Since energy communities are mostly founded and maintained solely by volunteers, having more members means greater involvement, more resources, and ultimately more dynamism. Although energy communities emerged from an ambitious movement for the energy transition, they are often limited today to a homogeneous group of highly qualified men with high incomes.

If energy communities manage to increase the number of women among their members, the decentralized energy transition gains momentum. What can be done to create a positive cycle between women's participation in energy communities, gender equality, and the energy transition?

The case of German energy communities is particularly interesting because Germany has the most energy communities in the EU and a long history of grassroots activism and political turbulence related to the energy transition.

According to Lara Track, project manager at Netzwerk Energiewende Jetzt e.V., an organization supporting energy communities, it is impossible to ignore the link between the fight for gender equality and the energy transition, even if this has been neglected for too long.

If energy communities manage to increase the number of women among their members, the decentralized energy transition gains momentum.

Women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender people (sometimes referred to in German by the acronym FLINTA) are much less represented in energy communities but also in the energy transition as a whole. Lara Track, who has extensively studied the role of FLINTA in the energy transition, states that it is essential to increase their Teilhabe, their «role», which is more than mere participation (Teilnahme).

Focusing solely on participation as a vehicle for gender equality and representation has proven vulnerable to tokenism and oversimplification. Conversely, having a role (through leading a project, being part of an administration, or simply joining a community) means having a voice and, ultimately, power. This stronger form of participation is often more accessible to wealthy people, homeowners, and cisgender men, as they have more opportunities to participate, explains Track. Those who want to address gender in energy communities must swim against the tide in their fight for representation, inclusion, and power. According to Track, while gender is an important issue, energy communities may end up prioritizing other areas and failing to create participatory structures.

Having a role means having a voice and, ultimately, power.

Kiara Groneweg, who works in the energy sector at Women Engage for a Common Future (a non-profit network dedicated to linking gender and climate), agrees with Track that mere symbolic participation and representation risk reinforcing the status quo rather than bringing about transformative change and greater equality.

For example, Groneweg mentions Katherina Reiche, current German energy minister and former CEO of a subsidiary of the energy giant E.ON, as an example of women who use their positions of power to prevent structural changes. Reiche proposed restrictions on the expansion of renewables, such as requiring them to bear the costs of grid extension and limiting compensation for electricity injected into the grid. Green State Secretary Sven Giegold criticized these proposals as an attempt to hinder decentralized renewable production.

Those who want to put gender into energy communities have to swim against the tide in their fight for representation, inclusion, and power.

Nevertheless, Groneweg recognizes that, regarding representation in energy communities, «women attract women and FLINTA attract FLINTA». She adds: «If we have a male board with a very high speaking time, some FLINTA simply won't want to join and participate in discussions because the structure doesn't suit them from the start.» The attraction that comes with increased representation is crucial to opening male-dominated structures. As Track notes, «people like to work with people with whom they can feel a connection relatively easily.»

However, socioeconomic inequalities pose an obstacle to increasing representation, says Groneweg. For her, the debate about a socially just energy transition must also be clear about unequal access to capital, housing, and ownership. This access is limited in Germany, where more than half the population lives in rented housing and one in five people is at risk of poverty or social exclusion — a figure that doubles in single-parent households.

These numbers have a strong gender dimension. Women make up the vast majority (85 percent) of single-parent households, earn 16 percent less, and have pensions that are on average much lower than men's.

With 75 percent of European housing stock classified as energy inefficient, the transition in heating is the most vulnerable point of the energy transition. Groneweg emphasized that, in heating, individual solutions are practically insufficient, especially for the 53 percent of people in Germany who rent their homes. Since renovations and heat pump adaptations have been politically contentious in Germany, these large structural solutions remain unresolved, leaving populations to bear the high energy costs alone.

A competitive mindset

When Marina Braun — engineer, founder, and board member of several energy communities — decided to get involved in the sector, she thought about being the first woman to join an all-male energy community. She even knew some of the men on the board, which made it easier. However, she ended up dedicating her efforts to a younger and more diverse energy community.

«I realized that the motivation was, in some way, completely different,» she recalls. «There were women involved too. I had a hunch I would feel more comfortable than in the other energy community because they were actively looking for women. I thought maybe there wouldn't be that 'elbowing mentality' — and well, that was a decisive factor for me.»

Representation is not a magic cure for gender equality.

Kerstin Lopau, engineer and co-founder of SoLocal Energy, had a negative experience in male-dominated energy communities, where she encountered a lack of conversational generosity and a competitive mentality — the same elbowing mentality mentioned by Braun. In her experience, a more pleasant communication culture also leads to higher productivity and a cooperative approach to problem-solving.

Like Track and Groneweg, Lopau believes that representation is not a magic cure for gender equality. For example, being part of a company's board — a structure often very hierarchical and conformist — can lead women to follow masculine ideals and lose solidarity with other women. In energy communities, however, the landscape is somewhat different, according to Lopau: leadership tends to be more democratic, with various mechanisms to ensure control and transparency, which prevents alienation and loss of solidarity.

Fostering the terrain
German energy communities are often Genossenschaften (cooperatives) that encompass specific ethics, legal statutes, and structures. These organizations aim to help their members pursue their own economic, social, or cultural goals through joint operations. They traditionally follow principles of mutual aid, self-responsibility, and self-management.

In her work, Track observed that energy communities can trigger conversations around new sustainable ways of creating and retaining value. Energy communities are levers for people to benefit locally from the energy transition, especially those who currently do not benefit, she notes. In the energy sector, this is crucial. It has been shown that community energy projects generate two to eight times more local revenue than if the project were carried out by an external agent. In Germany, where much of the electricity produced in the east flows westward, exacerbating existing imbalances, this local aspect has enormous potential.

The debate about a socially just energy transition must also be clear about unequal access to capital, housing, and ownership.

Track says it is surprising that more municipalities do not turn to energy communities to combat the "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) phenomenon and build a local energy democracy. However, according to Groneweg, given the time and voluntary effort needed to create energy communities (especially in a country like Germany, burdened by huge bureaucratic obstacles), energy communities should not be solely responsible for removing structural barriers and solving broader political issues like energy poverty.

Instead, the energy community movement could join forces with other social movements, such as feminist and climate communities. «I hope for a feminist energy movement that fights to grow decentralized energy systems. Then more people would get involved. That would mean that, in an energy community that perhaps now has about 20 volunteers, suddenly 200 are involved, and it grows from city to city, or village to village,» says Groneweg.

Energy communities are levers for people to benefit locally from the energy transition, especially those who do not currently benefit.

For Lopau, it is a positive development that solar panels have become a mass product, taking energy generation out of the domain of tech geeks and bringing it into the familiar world of local supermarkets. Small photovoltaic modules make it very accessible for tenants to create their own solar system on balconies. For those who consume little or are in energy poverty, the savings generated by a solar module on a balcony are relatively greater than for high consumers.

Renewables enable local energy production and are the most democratic and accessible way to supply energy so far. However, these energy sources are still heavily influenced by previous energy systems and their gender dynamics, notes Lopau. She sees renewables as a fertile ground that now needs cultivation to reach its potential, particularly through the inclusion of FLINTA people in energy communities. Yet, small and large obstacles remain that energy communities must overcome to balance participation.

«Energy communities do not exist in a vacuum»

The initial obstacles that potential new members of an energy community face are the upfront and recurring costs associated with membership. Energy communities can anticipate this by offering solidarity pricing models.

The energy community movement can join forces with other social movements, such as feminist and climate communities.

Lopau, who has been active in democratizing balcony solar systems, recognizes that renewables are often not a priority for those facing energy poverty and the mental and stress-related burdens associated with it. She states that energy communities should rely less on the internal motivations of environmentally conscious individuals. To make this a reality, potential users must be proactively sought out and supported.

But financial barriers are not the only obstacle to participation. Since energy communities depend on individual and collective efficacy, people lacking self-confidence or experience in civil society or local collective initiatives, such as sports clubs, may face mental barriers and underestimate themselves and their abilities. For Braun, it is important to remind people that energy communities are a collective initiative. Members will always work with others; no one will be left behind, and they always follow a principle of work in 4 or 6 hands, she affirms.

To anticipate financial barriers to membership, energy communities can offer solidarity pricing models.

Gender stereotypes also contribute to the underrepresentation of women. Braun, who studied engineering, suggests that gender disparity in STEM fields is also related to the names of degree programs and the emphasis on technical aspects. Terms like energy technology or renewable technology tend to foreground the technical elements traditionally associated with masculinity, hiding the legal, organizational, and social issues related to renewables.

Braun emphasizes that gender stereotypes can be challenged. «This is a topic anyone can learn and understand. It just takes time, just like learning to knit, paint, or develop any other skill.»

The gender disparity in STEM fields is also related to the names of degree programs and the emphasis on technical aspects.

However, lack of time also disproportionately affects women. In Germany, women spend 44.3 percent more time on care work than men, constituting a second unpaid shift of about 30 hours per week. This work is estimated to be worth 826 billion euros annually in unpaid labor, which is a precondition for all paid work. Without giving and receiving care — such as teaching children to speak, resolving conflicts, or building social relationships — other economic activities would simply not be possible. When governments push to extend the workweek to increase economic output, they risk reinforcing gender disparities in care. They also reduce the time available for democratic involvement and participation.

These are broader issues that inevitably affect energy communities, which mostly rely on voluntary work. As Track states: «Energy communities do not exist in a vacuum. And everything we do structurally to promote gender equality will benefit gender equality within energy communities.»

The skills that matter

One of the strategies that energy community organizers follow to attract FLINTA people is to highlight that diverse skills are needed. Skills in communication, administration, law, or finance are essential to build the organization before any wind turbine or solar panel field is approved.

Braun explains that, especially at the beginning, it is crucial to have people on board who know how to build an organization — practically and socially. «Women are simply very good at building organizations structurally, in project management, they are very thoughtful, very empathetic — and that is what is essential for an energy community.» Reaching out to people, convincing them, and integrating them is linked to a set of emotional and social skills (which are, in fact, skills and not innate qualities) that women and FLINTA people often possess.

Skills in communication, administration, law, or finance are essential to build the organization before any wind turbine or solar panel field is approved.

Researchers have demonstrated solid evidence of the benefits of working in more diverse teams. An example, mentioned by Braun, is a greater risk aversion. In her experience, while men tend to take more risks and delay addressing pessimistic scenarios, greater gender interaction in discussions balances these tendencies, leading, for example, to a more solid risk assessment about what to invest in.

For Lopau, actively seeking more diverse participation can also have important domino effects, such as opening new perspectives and opportunities to grow the community, and making the space more welcoming for everyone — including potential new members.

Track mentions the example of a women-led energy community she worked with: «I find it interesting that, when there are two female presidents, programs for supporting childhood are considered.» And she adds: «They are not the only ones, but not everyone does it.»

In the context of the energy transition, which sometimes struggles to gain community support and face the NIMBY phenomenon, it becomes clear that social and organizational skills — traditionally associated with gender and undervalued — are the ones that determine a community's impact. Although from the outside it may seem that lack of technological skills makes participation in energy communities pointless, it is actually social and organizational skills that can grow and scale the movement.

«Don’t listen to the men»

Kerstin Lopau wants to fight the underrepresentation of women in energy communities from the root and do things radically differently. In previous years, she organized a summer school for young people to learn how to install solar panels. After receiving feedback that some FLINTA people did not sign up because they did not feel safe, Lopau took action. Since then, she and her colleagues at SoLocal Energy have organized solar fields specifically designed for FLINTA. Her approach is to be attentive to gaps, «always trying to carefully look at what people need. We know from our own field experience what seems strange, so we try to understand what could be improved.»

These solar fields also aim to serve as a launchpad for future employment for those who wish to pursue this career path. Lopau has been strategic in building relationships with the local skilled labor sector in northern Hesse. She relied on her experience and knowledge, even when it was not strictly necessary. These collaborations led to some very useful contacts. She recalls that professionals «saw on site, 'ok, they really know what they are doing, and they are competent — and they are not as bad as we thought. Maybe we can recruit some interns and workers here.' So, it was a win-win situation for everyone.»

A central pillar of this summer school is networking, as building relationships among these future energy professionals during the program has been valuable. It enhances energy literacy and confidence among participants, allowing them to appear differently, more empowered, in their energy communities or future jobs. Lopau shares that a former participant sent her an email with a technical question. «She said that’s how it should be done, but the men here say it’s not necessary to do it that way,» the participant wrote. Lopau replied: «No, don’t listen to the men. You remembered correctly.»

This article was inspired by the work of Barbara Nicoloso, whose essay "Gender Power: The energy transition through a gender lens" and the policy brief "Gender at the Heart of the EU Energy Transition: Key learnings from the French case" were previously published by the Green European Foundation.